International

Science & Technology Award International

Granted bi-annually and open to PhD students, this award is about
recognizing and rewarding excellence in innovative PhD research in
Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) nutrition and related topics. The
award was presented during the plenary session of the ISSFAL 2018
congress in Las Vegas (NV), US on 31 May 2018.

A total of 14 PhD researchers from across the globe were nominated for the 2018 award, of whom 4 finalists were selected by an independent jury to present their work at the ISSFAL 2018 congress in Las Vegas. The grand prize winner was Dr. Kathryn Hopperton from the University of Toronto.

As in previous years, we teamed up with ISSFAL to invite nominations for this year’s award, which forms part of DSM’s Bright Science Awards program. Nominations were open to current PhD students and those who have recently obtained their PhD.

Nominees and runners-up for the DSM International Science & Technology Award 2018 were:

Dr. Kathryn Hopperton, from the University of Toronto

Dr. Mandana Pahlavani, from Texas Tech University

Dr. Ross E Pennington, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Lin Lin, from the University of Toronto

Raphael Chouinard-Watkins

In 2016 we granted the award to Raphael Chouinard-Watkins for his studies of mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease. His work helped us to better understand these underlying factors relating to the disease and was highly translational. His work was very well presented and he handled questions from all five judges with pointed and clear answers, while adding additional observations and data to the discussion.

Eligibility Criteria

The award is international and was open to current PhD students and those who have recently obtained their PhD.

Candidates could not have defended their PhD thesis before 1 January 2016.

The nominated work had to be focused on innovative research - fundamental or applied - in the general area of Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) nutrition and related topics.

Selection and judging

From the total number of nominations received, four candidates were selected for the final judging round. These four candidates presented their research during a special DSM/ISSFAL Symposium at the 13th Congress of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids. A committee of leading scientists selected the winner.

Award presentation

The award was presented during the plenary session of the ISSFAL 2018 congress on 31 May 2018. The winner received a cash prize of €5,000 and each of the three runners-up received a cash prize of €1,000. In addition, each of the four finalists received €1,500 to compensate for travel, hotel accommodation and conference registration.

Nomination

Candidates had to be nominated by their PhD supervisors (as a rule: one nomination per supervisor). Nominations had to be accompanied by the following supporting documents: